Book: Cold Kiss

Synopsis:“It seemed so right. Danny was mine, I was his, and that wasn’t going to work if he was dead. So I would make him not dead, not anymore. I didn’t think any further than what it would feel like to kiss him again, to wrap my arms around him and bury my head against his shoulder. That was my first mistake. It also turned out to be the biggest.”

When her boyfriend, Danny, is killed in a car accident, Wren can’t imagine living without him. Wild with grief, she uses the untamed powers she’s inherited to bring him back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy she once loved.

Wren has spent four months keeping Danny hidden, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school and somehow, inexplicably, he can sense her secret. Wren finds herself drawn to Gabriel, who is so much more alive than the ghost of the boy she loved. But Wren can’t turn her back on Danny or the choice she made for him—and she realizes she must find a way to make things right, even if it means breaking her own heart.

In Amy Garvey’s Cold Kiss, we see how much love Wren truly has for Danny. When Danny, Wren’s boyfriend dies in a car accident, she feels overwhelmed with grief. Danny was everything to Wren. He was her whole world. Wren did not just love Danny, she breathed in every moment of happy bliss. So she did everything in her power to keep him alive, literally. But when you’ve lost something great, could you bring it back and have the same thing?

Wren’s happiness revolved around Danny. When your home life isn’t great, wouldn’t you spend every waking minute you had with the one beautiful thing in your life? Wren lived with her mom and sister. When I say live, I meant tolerate. Most days, Wren’s mom was just there, letting the minutes and days pass her by. Long gone were the days of bliss. That went out the door along with Wren’s father. And Wren’s younger sister? She’s hungry for information, knowledge, life.

Wren knows magic, or a variation of power. Her mom has it. Her sister has it. Wren was 13 when she heard the magical “hum.” Since the power was a part of each female’s life, I was expecting that it was a family secret. Well, it is, except no one talks about it. Wren’s mom forbids it, no matter how much Wren and her sister need guidance.

Throughout the book, Wren lives with the decision that she made. She is paying for the consequences through guilt, despair, and everything else that you could imagine. It wasn’t just a death of Danny. In some ways, it was the death of their relationship. Danny’s changing persona was probably a symbol of how first love can be.

Then there was Gabriel. The boy who saw Wren for her and not her power. The boy who stood by her and just let Wren be. Gabriel was a saving grace, in a way.

I may not have loved this book, but I enjoyed it enough. The message was powerful and at times, emotionally crushing. Wren is a strong girl, and I felt that at most times she had to take care of herself. Aren’t many young girls in that same situation, today?

Cold Kiss, to me, is a symbol of love that is unforgiving and relentless. Wren’s love for Danny was overpowering, indeed, but it was definitely relentless. Wren’s love for her mom and sister was unconditional, but it also came with a price. Wren’s love for her power was unforgiving, forcing her to deal with things Wren didn’t fully comprehend. And finally, Wren’s love for herself, because she felt that she was useless without someone to love her.